Prime Minister Andy Burnham has instructed government officials to abandon their current plans for addressing the problems at Thames Water and to produce a new range of more radical policy options for the stricken utility. The move signals a tougher stance from the government on how to tackle failures in essential public services.
A litmus test for a wider promise
The treatment of Thames Water is being portrayed by the prime minister's team as an early litmus test of his wider political pledge to put key services 'under public control'. By demanding that advisers go back to the drawing board, Burnham is asking for bolder proposals that could reshape the options available to policymakers.
Officials have been told to present a fresh list of policies rather than refine existing plans. The request reflects apparent dissatisfaction in Downing Street with the current set of proposals and a desire to explore a wider and more interventionist policy menu for the water sector.
What form any new measures might take has not been set out by the prime minister. Observers say 'more radical options' could, in principle, cover a spectrum of approaches — from tighter regulatory intervention and new forms of public oversight to more fundamental changes in ownership or governance — but Burnham's instructions so far have been to expand the choice set rather than to endorse a specific course.
The episode highlights the political sensitivity of large utilities that provide essential services to the public. How the government now proceeds with Thames Water will be watched closely as an indicator of how far Burnham intends to go in delivering on his promise to bring core services under greater public control.